Portsmouth is central to England’s maritime past and has been a naval port for centuries. It has been home to historic vessels such as Henry VIII’s Mary Rose and Lord Nelson’s HMS Victory. It’s history shows that it has been settled since before the days of the Roman Empire. This swooping sail-like sculpture welcomes you to Portsmouth Harbor.

Today our adventures take us from Portsmouth to Stonehenge, a place I have always wanted to see. Unfortunately we have been saddled with Lorna, the worst guide of the trip. She stands in the front of the bus pointing out things that she sees on either side such as ooh, here is a garden center, or look to the left and you will see a landfill. Sometimes she tells us what we can’t see like, there is a charming village to your right but you can’t see it from the bus. Thanks for the non-info, Lorna. One of the things we do manage to see and that Sarah has snagged a picture of is the spire of the Salisbury Cathedral. Would have been nice to have a closer look.

Finally we get to Stonehenge. You cannot see the stones from the museum area. The museum has a 360 degree presentation of the site as a trip through time. Our guide keeps calling it a 365 degree presentation. Sigh. There is a large part of the museum in which relics from the site reside.

Stonehenge itself is a prehistoric temple which began being built about 4500 years ago. The stones are carefully arranged to line up with the movement of the sun. About 5000 years ago a circular enclosure was built but the enormous sarsen stones were raised 500 years later. Smaller bluestones were placed between the large stones and were later rearranged. Some of the stones have fallen and others have been removed. A restoration project started in 1919 and continued off and on for 45 years.

According to folklore, Stonehenge was created by Merlin, the wizard of Arthurian legend, who magically transported the massive stones from Ireland. The most popular belief is that it was constructed by Druids. Through carbon dating scientists have discovered that it was completed a thousand years before the Celts ever inhabited the region which eliminates the Druids. It is now thought that the people who built came from three different tribes at three different times. They are from the earliest the Windmill Hill people around 3000 BC. then the Beaker Folk around 2000 BC, and finally the Wessex Peoples around 1500 BC. The Wessex Peoples were well-organized traders and used greater precision in their calculations and construction.

I forgot to include a picture of the watchbird of Stonehenge when I first posted this.

We spend a goodly amount of time at Stonehenge before reboarding the bus for the trip back to Portsmouth. Along the way back we go through the New Forest area. As it turns out the New Forest is actually not much of a forest but rather a large tract of unenclosed pasture land. It used to be a Royal Forest but was changed to an area of common rights in 1698. In our drive by we see horses, donkeys, sheep and other animals grazing. Finally we see another statue that looks like sails and we are close to Portsmouth.

We have lots to do before dinner tonight! Tonight is the first night of Passover and we have been squirreling away foods that we need all week, a hard boiled egg from breakfast, lettuces, an apple, and walnuts from lunch. and John asked one of the workers from the kitchen if he could have some horseradish and got half of a cup! Our cabin steward, Ricky, has procured a bottle of wine for us. From home I brought two tea lights (no candles allowed), three pieces of matzoh which did not survive the trip very well, our Haggadahs and John’s yarmulka. We have a fun reading at our atypical Seder and then progress down to Manfredi’s, the Italian restaurant, where we all order their excellent lamb chops. It has been a long and memorable day.

Everyday we get the Viking Daily which tells us what is going on for the day. According to the Viking Daily Falmouth is the gateway to the county of Cornwall which is the southwest corner of England. Its location made it a good site to aid the launch of the D-Day fleets. Most of the buildings are made of gray granite and Henry VIII built his Pendennis Castle here to defend England from France and the Holy Roman Empire.

Sarah has chosen a different excursion from ours and is taking a 4 mile hike on the Lizard Peninsula. I am concerned she will not see much since it is very foggy this morning. Why am I surprised!? It’s England! But as it turns out the fog burns off and she has a wonderful time.

John and I have a leisurely morning reading our books and fighting with the recalcitrant internet. We take a walk outside to look at the Falmouth harbor.

After lunch John and I start our excursion. We are going to the Tregothnan Tea Estate. Interesting fact, tea did not arrive in England until 1660 as part of a dowery to King Charles II. I try to take pictures out the bus windows but am not very successful.

Upon arriving we learn that this area of England is unique in climate. Its micro-climate is never too hot or too cold and as long as it never has a spell of windy cold, dry air it is perfect for growing tea. We embark upon a mile hike to where the tea is grown. I am limping around today due to my knee and take my cane along which causes the guides to be over-solicitous.

There is abundant plant life along the trail. We see wild garlic, ferns, and a special kind of plum that only grows on the estate. It is quite a pretty walk although fairly strenuous especially when we have to climb over a steep stile.

We finally reach the the area where the tea plants grow. Our tea guide tells us that there are three chemicals that make tea so special, caffeine, thiamine, and L-bromine. The caffeine is the first to be noticed and it picks you up, the thiamine makes you say ahhhh, and the L-bromine keeps you functioning at a high level. Sounds like a bit of tea propaganda to me but I am happy to swallow it since I love tea!

Later after hiking back we get to sit down and have some tea. I like the classic best and buy a box of loose tea for Sarah. (I hope she will share it with me and make some of those yummy little tea sandwiches!)

After driving back and getting cleaned up John and I have our special negroni sbagliato in the Living Room before dinner. John has made several copies of the recipe for the bartenders since our negroni has sparkling wine instead of gin (ugh), olives, and a twist of orange. Later we all have dinner at Chef’s Table where they are serving the Xiang tasting menu. The dinner and wine pairings are mostly good and the service is excellent.